Amy Whelan was mountain biking with her brother and friends in Little Tujunga Canyon when she fell.

The 17-year-old lost control of her bike over the weekend and plummeted about 10 feet onto the rocks below, leaving her body riddled with injuries — a lacerated spleen, dislocated hip and broken ribs.

Whelan was the first patient admitted into Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital’s new intensive care unit on Tuesday. She, along with 11 other patients, were wheeled in their beds about 400 feet to the new hospital space, where officials said the hospital can now provide greater privacy and comfort to families whose loved ones are seriously injured.

The intensive care unit it replaced was about 30 years old.

Whelan’s closed her eyes as a team of nurses and hospital staff pushed her bed through the hospital’s highways. Amy’s father, Terry, and two of her friends followed a few paces behind her bed.

The entire trip took about 10 minutes.

“She’s recovering nicely, and that’s the important thing,” Terry Whelan said as a doctor examined his daughter. “It’s stressful to have your child in the hospital.”  

The new ICU, which has 18 patient beds and 9,660 square feet of space, has six more patient beds than the old ICU and is more than double the size of the facility it will replace.

Whelan’s room has more seating for her family.

“Your mom won’t have to sleep in two chairs now,” said nurse Cindy Enriquez as she monitored Whelan’s blood pressure and heartbeat. “She’ll be with you soon, OK hun? You did a great job.”

Amy opened her eyes and nodded her head. Enriquez said Whelan was responding well to treatment, but staff would watch her closely to make sure she wasn’t bleeding internally. Generally, one nurse will be assigned to every two patients in the ICU, said Laura Young, a hospital spokeswoman.

Building the new ICU was part of Newhall Memorial’s master plan, approved by the Santa Clarita City Council in November 2008. The plan also calls for a medical office buildings, parking structures and a neonatal unit that will take the place of the old intensive-care unit.

After she was settled into her new hospital room, Amy talked about cycling with her father and friends who were standing over her bed.

Amy said she would get back on her bike and ride again once she healed. She’s been cycling since she was 3.
In April, she finished her first 100-mile race.

“She definitely wants to ride the bike again,” Terry Whelan said. “(Amy) has been really tough.”